Sunday, February 15, 2009

As part of being athlete here at SUNY Cortland we were required to attend a speaker; Marvin Lewis the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. I really enjoyed this speaker, for he was not there to tell us about alcohol, he was there to inform us about his career and that being a coach is just as important as being a teacher. He started the speech by stating that the fact that we were introduced to the things we do today are luck. For example, I play soccer so he stated that it is luck that my family introduced me to soccer and I am still playing in college today. Then he went on talking about the importance of coaching and the amount of time, dedication, and ability to coach the best is very difficult. He also told us that it is the hardest to coach the kids that already understand the skills and execute them correctly, for you put them to high standards and you want all the others to do as they do; and as a result they tend to get very board very quickly. I found this speaker very helpful and informative, considering that I would like to be a coach one day.

1. When working with the children at St. Mary’s school I observed that the kids varied in social and motor behavior skills. I worked with the older kids, 5th and 6th graders. I believed they stayed on task fairly well. They really enjoyed mob tag and knock out. Socially these kids were developed, they were not clingy. For the most part they agreed on the same games. What I found that really worked was with this age group giving them options; we had the gym space to give them the choice of knock or mob tag. I strongly believe that this grade level was a factor is motor development, but as far as gender and ability goes the girls and boys did the same actions.2. The fine motor skills that I observed with these children include running, boundaries, aiming, shooting, and catching. While playing mob tag both the girls and the boys had a good idea of strategies for how to catch people; and they were very good about staying in bounds and using the boundaries as a way corner people in. When we got to knock out the kids were very good at making baskets I was very surprised.

Over the years the game dodgeball has been a controversy in Physical Education classes. There have been arguments that it is a dangerous game, and that it promotes violence; due to the fact that the point of the game is to get people out by throwing a ball at a body.I understand the concerns that adults might have with their children playing this game, but I also believe that with the right modifications and supervision the game can be quite fun and address a lot of motor skills. One might not realize that the game of dodgeball covers throwing, catching, running, flexibility, and aiming. These skills are very common in most sports and are very important in the motor development of a child; as well as test the development of the teenagers.

The types of modifications that you can make include giving targets instead of throwing the ball at the person. Use the correct types of ball, for example a foam ball. And of course with any sport the correct adult supervision. In the end, I believe that dodgeball should be allowed to be played in Physical Education classes. It can be very fun and can really benefit a child’s motor development growth.

Monday, February 9, 2009

I picked Physical Education as my major here at SUNY Cortland, not only because I love kids and sports, but because it was my favorite subject in school as well. Sports and the atmosphere of athletes has had a huge impact on my life. I learned valuable lessons and life skills. I believe that every child should have a chance at the wonderful life experiences that I have had through the world of sports. I also believe that the children today are not getting enough physical activity in and out of school and I would like to get the children more involved. My strongest belief is that our children are the future of the world, and by inspiring them and being in their life's we are changes the future one child at a time. I am very excited about the career path that I choose, and I am ready to change the future.